Female United States Air Force Pilot Personality: The New Right Stuff

Abstract

With increasing numbers of female military pilots, it is important to understand the psychological and psychiatric gender differences of pilots. Using the "big five" personality structure (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), female United States Air Force pilots were compared with both male Air Force pilots and to a female comparison group. Female Air Force pilots were higher on the Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness scales than male pilots. Female pilots were also higher on these scales than the female comparison group and lower on the Neuroticism and Openness scales than that comparison group. It is suggested that these traits are highly adaptive for Air Force pilots, given the nature of modern military operational requirements.

Personality Profiles of Experienced U.S. Army Aviators Across Mission Platforms

“…Different personality instruments have yielded results that can be confusing or difficult to interpret in relation to job performance, especially since these instruments were designed for a clinical population with psychopathology (Dolgin, Kay, Langelier, Wasel, & Hoffman, 2002;King, McGlohn, & Retzlaff, 1997;Retzlaff & Gibertini, 1987). Findings using the MMPI, for example, have proposed that aviators were social, hysteric, aggressive, selfconfident, and intellectually-striving (e.g., Culpepper, Jennings, & Perry, 1972).…”

“…A bright spot in the research has been the creation of positive, performance-based measures, such as the NEO-PI-R, that have proven to be more accurate descriptors and predictors of personality (Dolgin et al, 2002;King, 1994;King et al, 1997). The NEO-PI-R is the most commonly used instrument measuring FFM factor and facet levels (Bernard & Walsh, 2004).…”

Racial and Gender Differences in the Five Factors of Personality within Military Samples

“…King, McGlohn and Retzlaff (1997) found that female Air Force pilots were lower on Openness than a comparison group of college students. In contrast, Johnson & Mclntyre (1998) found higher Openness for females than males in their sample of trainees at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) who were also members of the Armed Services.…”

“…However, Lynn & Martin (1997) found that men obtained higher means than women on Extraversion across 30 countries. In a sample of United States Air Force pilots, King, McGlohn, & Retzlaff (1997) found that female pilots were higher on Extraversion than male pilots.…”

Personality Profiles of U.S. Army Initial Entry Rotary Wing Students Versus Career Aviators

“…DTIC is devoted primarily to military technical reports while the remaining databases report primarily refereed journal articles. Different personality instruments have yielded results that can be confusing or difficult to interpret in relation to job performance, especially since these instruments were designed for a clinical population with psychopathology (Callister, King, Retzlaff, & Marsh, 1997;Dolgin, Kay, Langelier, Wasel, & Hoffman, 2002;King, McGlohn, & Retzlaff, 1997;Retzlaff & Gibertini, 1987). Studies using the NEO-PI-R have proven to be more helpful in identifying the personality traits of aviators.…”